In the wake of World War I, German visionary Walter Gropius imagined a bold new world, one where design would unify form and function, strip away ornament, and serve a socially driven modernity. At the Bauhaus school he founded in 1919, architecture, art, and craft merged into a single, radical pursuit of simplicity, purpose, and progress.

This ethos resonated far beyond Europe. As India stood at the cusp of self-rule, Bauhaus arrived as both an aesthetic language and an architectural solution, with Achyut Kanvinde and Habib Rahman bringing home a new design philosophy. They pioneered a distinct Indian modernism, marked by exposed concrete, open plans, and efficient use of space and material. This panel discussion aims to critically examine the emergence and trajectory of modernist architecture in Bombay and other Indian cities during the post-independence nation-building period, roughly from the late 1940s to the early 1980s, a transformative era shaped by industrialisation, institutional expansion, and socialist-democratic planning. From iconic public institutions like the Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai and Rabindra Bhawan in Delhi to experimental housing blocks across the country, the Bauhaus spirit was etched into the texture of a newly sovereign India. Bringing together architects, educators, historians, and creative practitioners, this is the second episode in the Motifs, Materials, and Makers series.

Join us as we explore how Bauhaus found new life in the hopes of a young nation and its impact on India’s modern architectural imagination.

Executive Director, Godrej Enterprises Group Nyrika Holkar 

Architect and Urban Designer Sanjay Kanvinde 

Interior Architect, Curator, and Design Entrepreneur Divya Thakur 

Assistant Professor, Architectural and Urban Conservation Programme, KRVIA Sanaeya Vandrewala (Moderator)